This application pertains to the art of surgery and surgical instruments and more particular to an apparatus and method for subcutaneously inserting catheters. The invention finds particular application in conjunction with the insertion of catheters in the cephalic vein through the subclavian area for introducing parenteral nutrition, antibiotics, chemotherapy, and the like. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention finds further application for creating tunnels through and between various body tissues.
Heretofore, catheters were inserted in the cephalic vein through a cut-down site through the chest wall over the vein. Multiple injections of anesthesia were made through the skin along a proposed tunnel path from the cut-down site to the parasternal border at the level of the nipple. An ovum-seeking forceps or other elongated forceps, was inserted at the cut-down site and manually urged along the tunnel path thus separating the skin from the underlying tissue to form the subcutaneous tunnel. The end of the forceps exited through an incision at the parasternal border to grasp an end of the catheter. The catheter was then drawn by the forceps through the tunnel to the cut-down site. The catheter was then inserted through venotomy in the cephalic vein and positioned such that its tip lay in the superior vena cava.
One of the most uncomfortable parts of the catheter insertion procedure, which is often done under local anesthesia, was the creation of the subcutaneous tunnel.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved tunneling apparatus and procedure which reduces the patient discomfort and forms the subcutaneous channel more simply and precisely.